Ferdinand suggests Man United ace could be captain for first time with Fernandes out v Liverpool

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Rio Ferdinand wonders if Luke Shaw could be handed the captain’s armband with Bruno Fernandes suspended for Manchester United’s daunting Premier League trip to arch rivals Liverpool.

Well, it can only get better. It surely can’t be any worse than the last time. Right?

When Manchester United suffered that 7-0 hammering at the hands of Liverpool back in March, it was a result made all the more remarkable by it’s unpredictability. United were in excellent form at the time. They had beaten Barcelona only a few weeks earlier, and still had bubbles in their nose after that Carabao Cup final defeat of Newcastle United.

So if that United side could still end up shipping seven at Anfield, the prospect of this team heading back to the scene of arguably their most miserable Premier League afternoon understandably has Red Devils supporters reaching for the aspirin.

No Bruno Fernandes for Man United vs Liverpool

Just to add to the sense of deepening grim-ness enveloping all things Man United, captain and creative lynchpin Bruno Fernandes will be in the stands on Merseyside too. Suspended after picking up another yellow card in Saturday’s Bournemouth capitulation.

And, for Rio Ferdinand, the lack of obvious candidates to inherit the armband speaks volumes about the make-up of Ten Hag’s leader-light squad. A resurgent Harry Maguire is an option, of course. But will Ten Hag really bestow such a high-pressure role back onto a man who lost the captaincy only a few months ago?

“You’d think it would be Harry Maguire, given that he was the last captain,” Ferdinand tells talkSPORT (11 December, 11am). “But I don’t know who he will go with. There’s not many names jumping off the team sheet.

“Luke Shaw, maybe?

Luke Shaw has never captained United before

As one of the longest-serving members of the United squad, a player who joined from Southampton all the way back in 2014 certainly feels like one of the more sensible options available to Ten Hag even if Shaw has never captained the club before. Especially with Casemiro injured, Raphael Varane out of favour and Marcus Rashford out of form.

Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen may have been in contention too but will also miss that trip to Anfield as Ten Hag continues to limp along with so many of his usual first team stars unavailable.